Public Banking builds coalitions on both coasts

The launch of the #PublicBankNYC campaign earlier this month and the ongoing campaigns in California have generated several excellent articles.

Aaron Fernando writes in The Progressive, “The rally on June 5 [in New York] was reminiscent of the Occupy Movement. … But the new movement extends beyond protest to present a practical solution to the problem caused by big banks that continue to fail large segments of society. The rally on Wall Street called for establishing a public bank for New York City, as part of a broader movement to establish public banks in cities and states across the United States. …

“‘It just made sense that we should be able to control what happens with our public money in our city, to not fund these things that so many of us are concerned about.’ said Hyung Nam, a member of the city’s Socially Responsible Investment Committee.”

Alejandra Molina writes in Next City, “Community organizer Carlos Marroquin, 57, of Hollywood, is a housing advocate who knows of homeless people who are employed but do not make enough to put a roof over their heads. He envisions a city-owned bank that would work directly with community banks and credit unions, ‘providing them the money they need to be able to give reasonable and affordable mortgage rates to people.’”

California Public Banking Alliance forms to create a specialized Public Bank charter CA cities could use

Six local Public Bank grassroots groups came together in San Francisco Saturday June 9 for the first statewide meeting of the newly formed California Public Bank Alliance to advocate for municipal and regional Public Banks. A key goal of the Alliance is to get a bill creating a specific Public Bank charter through the CA state legislature by September 2019. This charter would enable cities or regions to use a specific Public Bank license to create Public Banks. It would also set out some basic values for public control of public money.

Advocates from Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, peninsula/south bay, Oakland and San Francisco participated in the meeting. Groups from Eureka and Santa Barbara are part of the Alliance but were not represented at this initial meeting.

Farewell and thank you to PBI Board Member Arizona State Representative Pamela Powers Hannley

Public Banking Institute Board Member Pamela Powers Hannley has announced she is stepping down from our Board to focus on her work as an Arizona State Legislator and Public Bank legislation sponsor in her state. We thank Pam for her insights and contributions to our organization and wish her expanded success in Arizona.

The Sovereign Money initiative that Switzerland ultimately rejected would have barred commercial banks from electronically creating money when they make loans, and made the Swiss National Bank the only body authorized to create money in the country. While the initiative failed, a full quarter of Swiss voters supported it, which shows a growing interest in a radical overhaul of the monetary system.

Positive Money’s Fran Boait writes in the Independent, the initiative would have “opened up the way for a transformation of the money and banking system the world over. …

“Unknown to most of the population, 90 per cent of Switzerland’s money is created by private banks ‘out of thin air’ when they lend. …

“Switzerland’s Vollgeld referendum raises a crucial question that has been ignored since the last crisis – should private or public interests be in control of creating almost all the money a country uses?”

“Contrary to common belief, most money in the world is not produced by central banks but is instead created electronically by commercial lenders when they lend beyond the deposits they hold for savers. This arrangement, underpinned by the belief that most debts will be repaid, has been a cornerstone of the global capitalist system …

“‘The discussion is only just getting started,’ said campaign spokesman Raffael Wuethrich. ‘Our goal is that money should be in the service of the people and not the other way around and we will continue to work on it.’”

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